Here’s what happens next in the Huawei case, and what it means

Huawei and another Chinese hardware maker, ZTE, have seen equipment banned for certain uses for years. But President Donald Trump is planning a new executive order for early March that would more extensively ban equipment made by these companies, an administration official confirmed to CNBC.

As has been the case in other countries, such as Australia, the new ban is expected to focus on equipment meant to enable 5G, the next generation of wireless internet. The 5G standard promises to provide connections several times faster than the current standard, LTE.

“It is necessary and possible to build a secure, high-performance, world-leading 5G network platform by the end of the first term,” according to a leaked Trump administration memo, which was originally reported by Axios.

The proposal received sharp pushback since it would be a departure from norms in the heavily privatized telecommunications industry. The memo’s author has since departed the council, according to The Washington Post.